SRL East preferred bidder revealed

Suburban Connect, a consortium of CPB Contractors, Ghella and Acciona Construction, is expected to be awarded the contract by the end of the year.

The works include the construction of 16km of twin rail tunnels between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley, which will be Victoria’s longest tunnels. The TBMs are scheduled to be launched in 2026.

A second contract will be awarded next year for the tunnels between Glen Waverley and Box Hill.

Up to 10 TBMs will be used to carve out the full 26km of twin tunnels for SRL East, with TBMs launching from Monash, Burwood and Heatherton.

Early construction of SRL East is under way in Box Hill, Burwood and Heatherton, with works starting soon in Monash and returning to Glen Waverley and Clayton later this year.

The new line will be open to passengers by 2035.

Minister for Suburban Rail Loop, Jacinta Allan, said SLR would not only transform Melbourne’s public transport network, it would reshape how Melbourne grew in the decades ahead. She said it would “take thousands of cars off roads, delivering 24,000 jobs across the life of the project and boosting hundreds of small local businesses”.

“We need to boost housing choice and affordability in established areas, which is why our SRL Precincts have been so carefully selected – they are places with easy connections to existing transport and have enormous potential for high quality jobs,” she said.